James Best Biography (1926-)

Original name, Jules Guy; born July 26, 1926, in Powderly, KY (some sources cite Corydon, IN); married second wife, Jobee Ayers, 1959 (divorced, 1977); married Dorothy Collier (an actress and producer), 1986; children: (second marriage) two daughters, including Janeen (a producer). Addresses: Office:Best Friend Films, James Best Enterprises, Inc., P.O. Box 621027, Oviedo, FL32762.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Actor, director, writer, producer
Birth Details: July 26, 1926; Powderly, Kentucky, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Appearances
Crator, Winchester '73 (also known as Montana Winchester),Universal, 1950
Frank, Peggy, Universal, 1950
Naval lieutenant, Mystery Submarine, Universal, 1950
Cole Younger, Kansas Raiders, Universal, 1950
Sam, Comanche Territory, Universal, 1950
One Way Street, Universal, 1950
Sergeant Ralph Phelps, Target Unknown, Universal, 1951
Bittercreek, The Cimarron Kid, Universal, 1951
Bert Keon, Apache Drums, Universal, 1951
Jerry Connell, Air Cadet (also known as Jet Men of the Air), Universal, 1951
Joe McNamara, Steel Town, Universal, 1952
Marvin Johnson, Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (also known as Maand Pa Kettle at the County Fair), Universal, 1952
Corporal Ransom, Francis Goes to West Point, Universal, 1952
Radar operator, Flat Top (also known as Eagles of the Fleet), Allied Artists, 1952
Corporal Hassett, The Battle at Apache Pass, Universal, 1952
About Face, Warner Bros., 1952
Corporal Gerard, Seminole, Universal, 1953
Sidney K. Fuller, Riders to the Stars, United Artists, 1953
Samuel, The President's Lady, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1953
Primrose, Column South, Universal, 1953
Gig Davis, City of Bad Men, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1953
Radar operator, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (also known as Monster from beneath the Sea), Warner Bros., 1953
Lieutenant Friday, They Rode West, Columbia, 1954
Barr, Return from the Sea, Allied Artists, 1954
Lieutenant Junior Grade Jorgensen, The Caine Mutiny, Columbia, 1954
Lieutenant Robinson, The Raid, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1954
Jason Brown, Seven Angry Men (also known as God's Angry Man), Allied Artists, 1955
A Man Named Peter (also known as A Man Called Peter), 1955
The Eternal Sea, Republic, 1955
Jerry Ames, When Gangland Strikes, Republic, 1956
Jim, Gaby, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1956
Bill Jackson, Come Next Spring, Republic, 1956
Detective Arnie Arnholf, Calling Homicide, Allied Artists, 1956
Crew member, Forbidden Planet, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1956
Millard Chilson Cassidy, The Rack, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1956
Kermit, Hot Summer Night, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1957
Ted "Kid" Hamilton, Last of the Badmen, Allied Artists, 1957
Doug Gerhardt, Man on the Prowl, United Artists, 1957
Rhidges, The Naked and the Dead, Warner Bros., 1958
Tom Folliard, The Left-Handed Gun, Warner Bros., 1958
Kit Caswell, Cole Younger, Gunfighter, Allied Artists, 1958
Sergeant David Brent, Verboten!, Columbia, 1959
Billy John, Ride Lonesome, Columbia, 1959
Thorne Sherman, The Killer Shrews (also known as The Attack ofthe Killer Shrews), McLendon, 1959
Sam Mullen, Cast a Long Shadow, United Artists, 1959
Niergaard, The Mountain Road, Columbia, 1960
Jericho Larkin, Black Gold, Warner Bros., 1963
Stuart, Shock Corridor, Allied Artists, 1963
Scotty Grant, The Quick Gun, Columbia, 1964
Sheriff Elkins, Black Spurs, Paramount, 1965
Carter, Shenandoah, Universal, 1965
Dr. Ben Mizer, Three on a Couch, Columbia, 1966
Sergeant Carnavan, First to Fight, Warner Bros., 1967
Drew, Firecreek, Warner Bros., 1968
Sheriff Young, Sounder, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1972
Dewey Barksdale, Ode to Billy Joe, Warner Bros., 1976
Jim, Nickelodeon, Columbia, 1976
Gator, United Artists, 1976
Texan, Rolling Thunder, American International Pictures, 1977
The Brain Machine (also known as The E-Box, Gray Matter, Grey Matter, Mind Warp, and Time Warp), Howco Productions, 1977
Pacemaker patient, The End, United Artists, 1978
Cully, Hooper, Warner Bros., 1978
Wilbur Johnson, Death Mask, 1986 MTI Video, 1998
Film Work
Director and assistant to producer, Gator, United Artists, 1976
Director and associate producer, The End, United Artists, 1978
Television Appearances
Series
Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, The Dukes of Hazzard, CBS, 1979-1986
Voice of Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, The Dukes (animated), CBS, 1983
Also appeared as "Gotch" in the series Temple Houston.
Movies
Skip Taylor, 1953
Frank Simms, Good Deed (also known as Gentry's People), 1959
Hardy Couter, Aftermath (also known as The Code of Jonathan West), 1960
Henry Burroughs, Run, Simon, Run (also known as Savage Runand The Tradition of Simon Zuniga), ABC, 1970
Sheriff Bert Hamilton, Savages, ABC, 1974

Bingo Washington, The Runaway Barge (also known as River Bandits), NBC, 1975
Deputy Mayor Pelligrino, The Savage Bees, NBC, 1976
Lamarr Skinner, McLaren's Riders, CBS, 1977
Boss and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!(also known as Reunion in Hazzard), NBC, 1997
Rosco P. Coltrane, The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood, NBC, 2000
Episodic
"Little Britches," Stories of the Century, 1954
"Outlaw Mesa," Annie Oakley, 1954
"Annie and the Outlaw's Son," Annie Oakley, 1954
Bank teller, "The Hold-Up," The Gene Autry Show, 1954
Ray Saunders, "Hoodoo Canyon," The Gene Autry Show, 1954
"Million Dollar Wedding," Death Valley Days, 1955
"The Death of Johnny Ringo," Buffalo Bill Jr., 1955
Jim Blake, "Framed for Murder," The Lone Ranger, 1955
"The Stone Heart," The Adventures of Champion, 1955
"The Texicans," Frontier, 1956
"Andrew and the Deadly Double," The Adventures of Champion, 1956
"Out from Texas," Frontier, 1956
"The Three Graves," Zane Grey Theater, CBS, 1957
"Merry-Go-Round Case," Richard Diamond, Private Detective, CBS, 1957
"Marple Brothers," Trackdown, 1957
Andy Fisher, "The Long Night," Have Gun Will Travel, CBS, 1957
"The Mistake," Trackdown, 1958
Norman Frayne, "Death Sentence," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, CBS, 1958
"Sheriff of Red Rock," Wanted: Dead or Alive, CBS, 1958
"Guilt of a Town," Tombstone Territory, 1958
"Jebediah Bonner," The Restless Gun, 1958
Joe Best, "Stampede at Tent City," Bat Masterson, 1958
"Sunday's Child," Trackdown, 1958
"Six-Up to Bannack," Wanted: Dead or Alive, CBS, 1959
Garth English, "The Andrew Hale Story," Wagon Train, NBC, 1959
Dallas, "The Lawbreakers," Laramie, 1959
Ben Travers, "Client: Nelson," Black Saddle, NBC and ABC, 1959
Ben Leach, "Company Man," Laramie, 1960
"The Story of Julesberg," Pony Express, 1960
"Escort Detail," Overland Trail, 1960
"Night on a Rainbow," The Rebel, 1960
"High Lonesome," Stagecoach West, 1960
Bowman Lewis, "The Colonel Harris Story," Wagon Train, NBC, 1960
Art Bernard, "The Clayton Tucker Story," Wagon Train, NBC, 1960
(As James K. Best) Hennessey, "Cell 227," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, CBS, 1960
Jim Lindsey, "The Guitar Player," The Andy Griffith Show, CBS, 1960
"Deathwatch," The Rebel, 1960
"Dakota Showdown," Bat Masterson, 1960
Carl Reagan, "The Fugitive," Bonanza, 1961
"The Arsonist," Stagecoach West, 1961
Jim Lindsey, "The Guitar Player Returns," The Andy Griffith Show,CBS, 1961
Bish Darby, "Make My Death Bed," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, NBC, 1961
"The Choice," The Barbara Stanwyck Show, 1961
"The Dead Don't Cry," Stagecoach West, 1961
"The Hemp Reeger Case," Whispering Smith, NBC, 1961
Johnny Rob, "The Grave," The Twilight Zone, CBS, 1961
Jeff Myrtlebank, "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank," The Twilight Zone, CBS, 1962
Johnny Best, "The Runaway," Laramie, 1962
Bob Barrett, "The Day a Town Slept," The Rifleman, 1962
"Then the Mountains," Bronco, 1962
"Satonka," Cheyenne, 1962
Johnny Olin, "Day in the Sun," Hawaiian Eye, 1962
"Sweet Sam," Cheyenne, 1962
Willy Cain, "Incident at Spider Rock," Rawhide, 1963
"Say Goodbye to All That," The Virginian, 1963
Simon Waller, "Six Impossible Things before Breakfast," Ben Casey,ABC, 1963
Billy-Ben, "Jess-Belle," The Twilight Zone, CBS, 1963
Martin Potter, "The Case of the Surplus Suitor," Perry Mason, CBS,1963
Dal Creed, "With a Smile," Gunsmoke, CBS, 1963
Dan, "Terror at High Point," The Fugitive, ABC, 1963
"Little Angel Blue Eyes," Redigo, 1963
"Incident of the Rawhiders," Rawhide, 1963
Page, "The Legacy," Bonanza, 1963
Tom Carmody, "The Jar," The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, CBS, 1964
Sam Beal, "The Glory and the Mud," Gunsmoke, CBS, 1964
Private Meredith Trenton, "Mail Call," Combat!, ABC, 1964
"Go Away, Little Sheba," Destry, 1964
"Incident at El Toro," Rawhide, 1964
Jethroe Wyatt, "The Devil's Four," Daniel Boone, 1965
"A Matter of Wife and Death," Honey West, ABC, 1965
"Steam Heat," Burke's Law, 1965
Curt Westley, "Letter of the Law," The Virginian, 1965
Allan Winford, "The Case of the Unwelcome Well," Perry Mason, CBS,1966
"Lisa," I Spy, NBC, 1966
"High Devil," The Iron Horse, 1966
Arnold Wyatt, "Flame Out," Felony Squad, 1966
"Meeting at Devil's Fork," The Guns of Will Sonnett, 1967
"Suitable for Framing," I Spy, NBC, 1968
Vern, "The Price of Salt," Bonanza, 1968
George "Lucky" Collins, "The Distant Shore," Felony Squad, 1968
Title role, "Charlie Noon," Gunsmoke, CBS, 1969
"Robber's Roost," The Guns of Will Sonnett, 1969
Sheriff Gruner, "Luke," How the West Was Won, 1979
Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, "Grits and Greens Strike Again," Enos,1980
Woody, "Too Many Roscos," The Dukes of Hazzard, CBS, 1983
Mr. Parkinson, "Night Train," B. L. Stryker (also known as TheABC Saturday Mystery), ABC, 1990
Nathan Bedford, "Sweet, Sweet Blues," In the Heat of the Night, NBC, 1991
Also appeared in The Big Valley, ABC; Hawkins, CBS; TheMod Squad, ABC; and Riverboat, NBC.
Other
Hank Garvey, Centennial (miniseries), NBC, 1978
Himself, TV Road Trip (special), The Travel Channel, 2002
Television Work
Episodic
Directed "Cale Yarborough Comes to Hazzard," "Dead and Alive," and "Diamonds in the Rough," episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard, CBS.
Stage Appearances
Appeared in Bus Stop and Goodbye Charlie, both at Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre, Jupiter, FL.
Major Tours
Appeared in Marinka, U.S. cities; and My Sister Eileen, European cities.
Stage Work
Directed a production of The Fantasticks, Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre, Jupiter, FL.
RECORDINGS
Videos
Appeared in His Own Words and Rosco Remembers.
WRITINGS
Screenplays
Gator, United Artists, 1976
The End, United Artists, 1978
Hooper, Warner Bros., 1978
Death Mask, 1986 MTI Video, 1998
Electronic
James Best, http://www.jamesbest.com, 6 13, 2002

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